Following Hawaii’s Trailblazers Online

Guidebooks can be great resources, but for quick-hit immediacy, nothing beats the Web. The writers and publishers of Trailblazer Travel Books, who produce guides to Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, among others, are creating the best of both worlds by compiling a photo-rich blog while they research new editions of their island guides.

“We started a blog as an experiment and thought you might enjoy reading about some of our escapades,” graphic designer and photographer Janine Sprout writes. “…We hope to keep it going as we make the rounds here.”

Janine and husband Jerry, who’s the writer, have just spent three months on Kauai (they have homes in Kilauea and Markleeville) and are now on the Big Island to gather material for their guidebook revisions. They plan to post daily; some recent entries include pictures from a March 14 hula performance at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park — it had to be held indoors “due to poor air quality” — and a monk seal spotted March 11 on Larsen’s Beach on Kauai.

Here’s what they had to say about the monk seal:

The endangered Hawaiian monk seal is the only mammal that evolved from nature in the islands, unless you want to get technical and count a species of bat or include humans, who had to use boats. The big fat creatures favor Kauai, the northern-most of the eight principle islands, because it the first landmass south of the 100 or so islands that are mainly sea-washed atolls that comprise the Hawaiian Archipelago (which are part of the 1,600-mile-long state of Hawaii).

In the archipelago sharks are the major threat to these animals, while down here they are endangered mostly by fishing gear and plastic associated with humans. Law requires that people keep at least 100 feet away from monk seals when they haul out on the sand — not an easy task when they choose resort beaches like Poipu Beach or others on Oahu. But on the wild beaches of northeastern Kauai (there 8 or 10 beaches that you hike to or have to drive dirt roads) the seals have room to snooze. They will sometimes swim along the shore alongside beachcombers or pop up out the water where people are sitting.

While the Sprouts’ guidebooks cover the gamut of island activities, they have a special affinity for hikes, as the series’ name implies. You can sample that on the guidebooks’ <a href="Web site, which includes a link for a “Trek-of-the-Month” on each island they cover. Here’s an excerpt from their Trek-of-the-Month link for the Kauai Trailblazer:

At 4,280 feet, the Pihea Overlook is the highest point along the rim of the Kalalau Valley. The trail gives you hours of viewing on foot what tour helicopters see for only a few seconds. Added to this view is a continuation hike across Alakai Swamp to Kilohana Overlook of Wainiha Valley — making this one of the most remarkable walks you can make anywhere. Starting at the viewpoint, you know you’re in for a mud stomp, as the ragged downslope at the beginning is indicative of the trail’s worst parts for the first mile. A hiking pole is recommended. In some places, you’ll need all four limbs to negotiate the trail — over sections of steps cut into hard-packed, greasy dirt — though it is not hazardous for the cautious hiker. The Pihea Overlook is on a spur trail beyond the junction with the Swamp Trail. From the Pihea Overlook, don’t forget to turn your back on the ocean and take a survey inland of the Alakai Swamp, especially if you are headed that direction.

To Kilohana Overlook, look for a signed junction a mile in from trailhead parking — just after completing a difficult hands-and-feet staircase. You drop down away from the rim, on a trail which at first is muddy and steep. But after a short distance you hit the boardwalk and series of stairs and rails, which make the rest of the walk a relative breeze. After about .75-mile you reach the junction with the trails coming up from Mohihi Road.

To the Kilohana Overlook from the junction, go left toward Alakai Swamp. You stairstep down, cross the stream and then lose the boardwalk for a stretch as you climb up from the drainage through dwarf fauna on the other side. At the top you pick up the boardwalk again and march right through the 60-square-mile swamp — an open bog of ferns, grasses, shrubbery and dwarf trees spreading out at 4,000 feet above sea level. The caldera from Hawaii’s first eruption has evolved over millions of years to become the highest elevation swamp in the world. From edges of the swamp, including the ridge of Mount Waialeale, are the origins of all rivers and streams on the island. During rain and fog, Alakai is a swamp indeed, but on clear days it is the top of the world.

The boardwalk ends at Kilohana, a small platform on the edge of the Wainiha Pali. From Kilohana you look down from 3,800-foot jungle cliffs rising above a river valley that runs from the north shore near Haena to near the middle of the island at Waialeale. Wainiha Valley is a fissured green gorge similar in size to Waimea Canyon, but is rarely seen because it is privately held. From the overlook you can hear the river far below. Hanalei Bay is in the center of a north shore view.

Watch Out: Don’t attempt to go beyond the overlook; there is no trail and the terrain is dangerous and impassible. Do not venture into the swamp. You’ll be knee deep in mud and have a good chance of getting lost even on clear days. When rain and fog come in, getting off the boardwalk can be a fatal mistake. Note: Don’t confuse this place with Kilohana Crater, a lowland dimple above Lihue.

Below, I’ve included a couple of my husband’s own photos from the trail to illustrate the excerpt — we’ll definitely be following in the Trailblazers’ footsteps in the future.